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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
15 June 2015 Dear Professor Gupta, Here is a summary of my
reflections on the projects ideas presented at the Childrens
workshop on Sunday. The ideas and observations of the Chilren
showed great insight and empathy into the lives of the people they
met on the Field visits. These reflections are ideas developed as
an overview of all the problems suggested. It not a critque of the
problems but rather some points to consider when determining which
problem to tackle. These are some diagrams that I generated in my
sketch book that summarised each theme. They not in any particular
order, but they may be helpful for the students working to resolve
a concept for the remainder of the summer school. Thankyou again
for the fabulous opportunity to be invovled in your summer school,
I really enjoyed the experience and have learnt an enornous amount
during the process. I am looking forward to working with you and
Techpedia in the coming months. Kind regards Kate Kate Bissett
Johnson Lecturer Industrial Design and Product Design Engineering
Swinburne University of Technology Australia
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
1. Motivation
Designers need to understand peoples motivations for their
behaviours. A great example of this was the tool that the broom
makers did have but did not use because it was too slow to use.
Many of the problems suggested involved making machines and tools,
the designer needs to make sure that these solutions will be
affordable, safe and increase productivity, otherwise users such as
the broom makers will not be motivated to use these new tools or
machines.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
2.Lifestyle
Lots of the solutions offered suggested using bike power, this
is a great suggestion but they should be designed in such a way the
the bike can be used for other things at other times. Also it was
mentioned that many of the people that were met during field work
were nomadic and that this was in response to the weather (the
broom makers and potters particularly either went back to their
village or could not work during monsoon), so any tools or machines
should be transportable.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
3. Education
The children made some great insights in relation to education,
paticulary numeracy and literacy. The mobile school and the concept
of teaching the women in the community to teach others in their
homes were really strong ideas. This really requires a
Product/Process/Service/System approach to problem solving.
Learning Camps and the ideas of connecting skills and equipment
were great examples of this. Teaching women tailoring by using a
sewing machine is great example of how education can lead to
income. (see appendix).
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
4. Mulitfunction
Can any product solution be mulifunctional, that is perform
different functions at different times? Or can the biproduct of one
activity generate the resources for another activity. For example
could the waste flowers from the flower market be collected and
used as a the raw material for another product ( for example paper
making) or could they be composted to generate bio gas and would be
this be an acceptable practice for the community?
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
5. Health
The children immediately grasped the idea that recycling and
santitation would have postive effects on the commuity ( for
example leakage of drains or flowers as waste from the flower
market). Identification of safety in making things was also a key
insight, for example the idea the palm leaf schredder enclosed in a
box to capture the fibres, or a tool to wrap the wire aound the
brooms rather than injure hands, or way to sort and recyle waste at
the flower market, or a way to sieve the raw clay for potters to
remove dangerous items, all were offered as solutions to make
peoples lives safer.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
6. Shared Products/Community Resources
Interestingly there was not much mention of food, but some
discussion about water supplies and the need to transport potable
water long distances. Solutions offered were a collective rainwater
tank for the whole community, a water carrier or community water
filter with the filter at the water source a as shared resource.
These types of shared solutions need to be carefully considered in
respect to cost for installation and the potential for communities
to self maintain these shared resources.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
7. Behaviour
Looking carefully at peoples current behaviour can lead to
innovative solutions. This was particularly evident from the
Childrens insights into the lives of the Vendors. The children
noticed that the vendors stood for 70% of the time and that the
vendor carts needed to do different things during the day and the
night. The children also saw the opportunities for the cart to do
more, such as have solar panels, be easier to steel or offer a
seat.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
8. Priorities
For the children the most important problems were health, water
and safety. Child labor and santitation were also mentioned as
important. In doing fieldwork its important to determine the
priorities of the community as they may not be the same as those of
the observer/desginer. Getting as close as possible to community
and co-creating where possible could generate genuine understanding
and also allowing communities to develop their own ideas.
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Reflections on Childrens workshop
Summer School, Sristi and IIM, June 2015
Ahmedabad, India
Kate Bissett Johnson Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria, Australia [email protected]
Article from the Ahmedabad Mirror explain how teaching women
tailoring can then empower others in the community.
